Drivers face big cut in drink limit and random tests

Drivers face a drastic reduction in the drink-drive limit and the introduction of random roadside breath tests in a government crackdown on alcohol-related road deaths.

Stephen Ladyman, the roads minister, said a cut in the alcohol limit for motorists from 80mg to the European average of 50mg could be introduced, limiting drivers to a half pint of beer or small glass of wine.

Speaking after the publication of a Europe-wide study which showed the UK falling behind France and Sweden in reducing road deaths, Mr Ladyman said a public consultation this year would propose a reduction in the drink-drive limit.

At the same time, the government will consult on increasing police powers to enable officers to stop drivers at random. At present, police are limited to stopping motorists who are driving erratically or who have committed a moving traffic offence.

Mr Ladyman said the government was "minded" to slash the alcohol limit to 50mg per 100ml of blood once the current limit of 80mg is enforced adequately. He added: "Once we have achieved a very high level of conformity at the 80mg level, that will be the point to go to 50mg."

Mr Ladyman said road policing should be stepped up to enforce the current limit. "Not that many years ago, you would be standing in a pub and the word would get around that the police were out targeting pubs. That level of enforcement seldom happens any more."

There are growing concerns that a new generation of drivers do not regard drink-driving as taboo.

The UK was criticised for falling behind other European countries in road safety performance yesterday, amid a rise in the number of young motorists involved in accidents while under the influence of alcohol.

Road safety campaigners have urged the government to introduce random breath tests, which they say will heighten drink-drivers' fears of being caught. The introduction of roadside tests in New South Wales, Australia, halved the drink-drive death rate. Figures from the European Transport Safety Council (ETSC) showed France had reduced road deaths by a third between 2001 and 2005, compared with a 7% drop in the UK.

Mr Ladyman said the figures did not take into account the fact that the UK had cracked down on road safety decades earlier than many countries, but he said tougher action was needed. "We need to be more ambitious and aggressive in trying to reduce casualties on the road."

A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: "We would be delighted if the drink-drive limit was lowered. Between 50mg and 80mg, you are six times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident than someone with no alcohol. Reducing the limit from 80mg to 50mg would save around 65 lives and 230 serious injuries on the roads each year." According to the ETSC, drink-drive deaths have fallen sharply in European countries apart from Britain and Spain. Drink-drive deaths in Germany and the Netherlands have fallen by more than 50% since 1998, but Britain has seen a 17% increase over the same period, from 410 in 1998 to 480 in 2005.

According to figures from the Department for Transport, 1,050 17- to 19-year-olds were involved in drink-drive accidents in England and Wales in 2005, compared with only 810 in 1995. For 20- to 25-year-olds, the figure increased from 2,170 to 2,280 in the same period.

Richard Allsop, an ETSC board member, added: "Much road safety policy and practice in the UK is good, but these comparisons with our fellow Europeans come as a wake-up call to anyone tempted to acquiesce in present levels of death and injury on our roads."

A spokeswoman for the Department for Transport said: "We plan to explore ways drink-driving enforcement might be made easier for police."